Sarah McLachlan has the voice of an angel.
It has been thirteen years since Sarah McLachlan released her hit song “Angel.” Thirteen years later it is still as powerful as it was then. It takes amazing talent for a song to be so beloved throughout the world. Sarah McLachlan has had many hits throughout her career, but it is Angel that she is most recognized for.
Sarah McLachlan’s Facebook biography states she, “…is one of the most celebrated singer songwriters in entertainment with over 40 million albums sold worldwide. She has received three Grammy Awards and twelve Juno Awards over her career and was recently inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.”
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Sarah has sung and performed this song since the late 1990s and it is raw and emotional every time she performs it.
Her voice, during this live performance, sounds just like it does on the album. While the lyrics are beautifully sad, it is her beautiful voice that makes the song even more emotional to listen to. It is amazing to hear her sing the song decades later and she still sounds exactly the same.
Many people have attached the song to the ASPCA commercial that has been playing on televisions nationwide since 2007. These commercials are advocating for abused animals and to donate to the organization to help. Sarah did not realize her song would forever be attached to the organization. Sarah told the Charlotte Observer,
“I love animals as much as the next person, but if I really wanted to attach myself to something, it would be kids and education.”
So, what was the original meaning for the beautifully tragic song “Angel?”
“This song is about the Smashing Pumpkins touring keyboard player Jonathan Melvoin, who overdosed and passed in 1996. McLachlan didn’t know him and was never a user herself, but when she read about his passing in Rolling Stone, she felt a connection,” Sarah explained on the VH1 show Storytellers.
While that was Sarah’s original intent for the song, many people have interpreted the song to their own personal lives in different ways. The song has been played at many funerals as people grieve their loss and pray,
“You’re in the arms of the angel
May you find some comfort here”
The beauty of music is the connection a listener can feel to the song and “Angel” has connected to many.
Most people connect to the song through their personal stories of grief, healing, but having hope at the same time. The song’s original intent of losing to a strong addiction has even connected to other artists, such as rapper DMC. In his memoir he states that listening to “Angel” helped him during his own road to recovery.
Sarah performs the song with only her achingly beautiful voice and the keys from her piano. Listening to an artist be able to perform with only one instrument and her voice is astounding. Her voice and her piano are able to vocally demonstrate the pain in the song.
It is as if Sarah McLachlan was the only person that could have created this song.
Watch Sarah’s full live performance of “Angel” below and prepare to be as moved as you were the first time you heard the song.
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